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The 2009 Minster boys golf team pose with their Division III state championship trophy after winning the title at The Ohio State University Scarlet Course. The title is the first - and to this point only - state golf team title for a Midwest Athletic Conference team. Members of the team are, from left, head coach Mike Griner, Austin Fischer, Ben Hogenkamp, Adam Sherman, Craig Purpus, Oliver Weaver, Sam Phlipot and coach John Stechschulte.
When Mike Griner became co-coach of the Minster boys golf team in 2003, the Wildcats had only ever made one trip to state. In the next seven years, they made four state tournament runs, and in 2009, they captured the Division III title.
Through 2022, it remains the only state championship by any Midwest Athletic Conference golf team.
"We were all very talented," said Adam Sherman, a senior in 2009, "but I think that consistent approach and having that consistent mindset that come from the top, from Mike and John (Stechschulte, Minster's assistant coach), just led us to believe that we were there for a reason, and to come out on top."
Griner's Wildcats made a nerve-riddled trip to state in 2005 and placed fourth. The next year, they expected to win at Ohio State's Gray Course but came in second - "we would've won," Griner said, "except Johnstown-Monroe, their team just got hotter than a firecracker."
In 2007, Griner became sole head coach, and the Wildcats missed state by three strokes. In 2008, Minster made it back and placed fourth at Foxfire Golf Course in Lockbourne.
Lima Central Catholic was the Wildcats' big rival, beating them at sectionals and districts in 2008 and placing second at state.
"The expectations in '04 and '05 were that we would never win the MAC, much less beat LCC," Griner said. "Once the boys figured out that they could beat these guys, it was kind of neat to watch them grow."
Senior Ben Hogenkamp was the alternate in 2006, and Sherman, junior Craig Purpus and sophomore Austin Fischer joined him on the 2008 team. Junior Sam Phlipot went with them as an alternate.
Oliver Weaver, another junior, moved up in 2009 to round out the top six.
"We had a group of two to three guys that were really good and were up to a standard of winning state, but I think we were missing those last couple pieces (in 2007-08)," Purpus said. "I think that's the biggest thing, working to get a full lineup together to go and do it."
Fischer, the youngest, had been around the others for a long time, riding around the course with Griner as a middle schooler and getting to know the older golfers.
"We all had fun at practice, but it would get competitive," Fischer said. "But also, outside of practice, we were playing every single day together during the summer, 18, 27, 36 holes."
Fischer gave Griner a lot of the credit for their cohesion. The coach has continued to keep them in touch, including organizing a day playing at Dayton Country Club this summer.
"He's great at bringing people together, and he knew how to motivate people in different ways," Fischer said. "He'd kind of pick at some people to get them going and knew when other people needed support."
The Wildcats won the MAC every year from 2005 to 2010, and in 2009, they handed St. Henry and Versailles their first MAC losses in the final week. Their last MAC match was a five-stroke win over the Tigers with Hogenkamp, Purpus and Weaver shooting even-par 36s.
Three days later, Minster fired a 295 in the MAC tourney, with Purpus the medalist.
"Purpus, Hogenkamp, and you've got to put Sherman in there too - the bigger the tournaments, the better they played," Griner said. "They just thrived under pressure."
In the sectionals, Purpus was 3-under as the medalist as the Wildcats shot a 291 and beat LCC by seven. The Thunderbirds won districts on a cold, windy day at Stone Ridge with Minster four strokes back, largely on the strength of Hogenkamp's 72.
The state tournament was at Ohio State's Scarlet Course, much tougher - and longer, set up at nearly 7,000 yards that year - than the Gray Course or Foxfire. Griner had taken the team there before the season to help build familiarity,
"There were two or three par-4s where I was like, even if I hit a good drive and a good 3-wood, I might not get to the green," Hogenkamp said.
"That's kind of intimidating in that sense," he went on, "but at the same time, we know we're all great players. If you're going to put tough conditions paired with a tough golf course, usually the best team is going to come out on top. There's no faking it if you're going to play that long a course."
Amid bad weather on the first day - Hogenkamp and Purpus remembered snow at one point, and Fischer recalled wearing "QB hand warmers" on their belts amid 30-degree temperatures - the Wildcats shot a 334 to keep three strokes back of Strasburg-Franklin, three ahead of third place and five ahead of LCC. At the time, Griner thought a 320 the second day would win it.
That night, the Wildcats went to Dave and Buster's in Columbus, a tradition from past trips. Sherman called Evan Lee, a senior on the 2006 team, for encouragement.
"I think our games were very similar in nature," Sherman said. "So he kind of reemphasized to keep the head down and to show, I guess, how good you were at golf."
Hogenkamp, meanwhile, felt like he'd lost his swing, and normally he would need days or weeks to fix his mechanics.
On a more hospitable Saturday, those fears melted away. Hogenkamp said he hit nearly every fairway as he blitzed the front nine with a 36, but the big turning point came on a 55-foot, uphill putt on par-3 No. 8.
"I just slammed it in the back," he recalled. "I think at that point I just screamed because I was so excited, and Craig and Adam were in the groups in front of us, so they could hear what was going on. We always talk about this, we think that energized everything and helped them bring it back on the back nine."
Purpus, Sherman and Fischer caught fire on the back nine. Purpus heard cheers behind him, and within five minutes, he chipped in for a birdie on No. 10. Fischer birdied par-5 No. 11 to start his own run, and for Sherman, it was No. 13 - "hitting a six-iron over the top of the pin and it just being a perfect shot," he said - when he felt like everything clicked.
But the players were mostly unaware of the bigger picture. Griner drove around offering snacks or small talk, but rarely talked about how the team was doing.
"He was always very tight-lipped," Purpus said. "He was a big 'focus on yourself' type of guy, and he stuck to that all the way through state as well."
Purpus and Fischer remember Griner letting on as they played the final holes, but the two seniors say he never told them they were going to win.
Sherman said Minster fans had started celebrating as he came up the 18th fairway and he realized they would win the title. When Hogenkamp got to the final green, it was so thoroughly in the bag that there was little reaction to his 10-foot par putt and he thought it was too close to call.
"I was nervous to the point of signing my scorecard and being told, 'Yeah, you guys won by 20,' " he said.
Hogenkamp and Sherman each took seven strokes off their Friday scores. Hogenkamp and Purpus made All-Ohio first team, and Minster came in at exactly 320 Saturday, bringing Griner's prediction to life for a 17-stroke win. Though Minster's girls were racking up championships, it was only the second boys state title for Minster, the first in 20 years after the football team won in 1989.
Griner stepped down and Minster narrowly missed a state berth in 2010. The Wildcats lately have made five straight trips, placing fifth in 2019 and 2022.
The rest of the MAC claims one individual state title, by Andy Miller of Delphos St. John's in 1998, and 15 team trips to state. The Minster boys team boasts 10 state tournament runs and six of the MAC's seven top-five finishes.
"We were always challenging each other, but with the confidence being built as well, we get to that stage and we know we can do it, and we've come close to doing it in the past," Sherman said. "I think that just propelled us forward."
